All right, I have to come out and say it: I absolutely love video games as a medium for art, expression, social engagement, and entertainment. Ever since I was a little squirt playing Mario on my neighbor’s NES after school, I’ve absolutely adored them. Video games have the ability to take you on truly unique adventures – the music, visuals, and interaction are absolutely unmatched for me. They can also have the downside of creating a gaming addiction.
When I was 19 years old, I found World of Warcraft and lost an actual year to the first expansion, The Burning Crusade. I loved it – the social interaction, the grind for better gear and items, the progress in high-end raiding when the teamwork between you and your 24 guildmates finally came together and you downed that boss…on the 20th attempt. Ventrilo went wild! I lost myself in that game. Gaming addiction: engage!
Now that I’m older and more established with a family to look after, I’ve run into the problem people have talked about for decades:
I finally have the money to play all the games I want, but now I don’t have the time.
I imagine this was less of an issue in the 90’s – video games were still in their infancy as far as public acceptance goes. They were seen as “kid entertainment”, and the release schedule was pretty tame by today’s standards. These days it’s really hard to fully enjoy the hobby though, and not having enough time is just one reason. The other?
Gamers Today Have Too Many Options
How often have you looked at the games you have and, due to the sheer volume of choice, found yourself unable to decide on one to play? I’ve heard of countless instances where people in this situation opt to cruise Reddit or jump on Youtube instead. It happens to me, too – it’s the Netflix movie selection meme all over again.
I firmly believe that we live in a golden age of gaming. The barrier to entry for game development is lower than ever, and exceptional indie games dot the landscape at a fraction of the price of the AAA options that always want more money from you these days. Let’s not forget to mention that there’s also a sale going on pretty much every day, regardless of the platform you’re on! The Steam back catalog meme is real, except now it applies to every platform.
Free Games?!
We even have resources like Prime Gaming and the Epic Game Store throwing out free games every month, or even every week! As of today, I’ve personally amassed a collection of 167 games that Epic has given away for free – more than I’ll play by a long shot. Some of these have been incredible deals. We’ve got Prey (2017), the Batman Arkham games, Alien: Isolation, the Bioshock trilogy, Celeste, Control, Elite: Dangerous, Enter the Dungeon, Hitman, Into the Breach, Kingdom Come: Deliverance and the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy, just to name a few.
Let’s talk about another reason that gaming addiction is a problem today: the fear of missing out.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) Creates Gaming Addiction
Have you ever played a game where you’ll fall behind in some way if you don’t keep playing regularly? This started off with MMOs like World of Warcraft and EverQuest, where not playing would see you kicked from your guild and falling behind in raid and PVP progress, but now FOMO has infected the entire industry.
The Destiny 2 Disaster
Let’s look at Destiny 2 as an example. The game has incredible mechanics and is a genuine delight to play. The monetization model is a disaster, though, and keeps me from ever considering even touching the game. Let’s look at how Bungie uses FOMO to keep the player logging in.
- Introduced a battle pass that has both free and paid tiers, with the paid tier having more and better rewards
- That battle pass will expire once the current “season” concludes. Your items will be rendered useless once the next season starts and the next power jump hits
- The team “sunsets” items, meaning they can no longer be obtained in-game. This was thankfully abandoned after 4 months due to player feedback
- The team “sunsets” entire expansions, resulting in players no longer being able to play content that they paid for
The end result? Players feel the need to log in every day to stay current and not fall behind. I can’t think of a better way to cultivate gaming addiction than to create a tactile, addicting gameplay loop while making the player feel that they’re obligated to play daily?
My Thoughts?
The removal of content that people have paid for is disgusting and unethical, and games are no longer a source of true enjoyment when played out of a sense of obligation. Based on the number of people playing games like this (Battlefield and Call of Duty are key offenders as well), a lot of people just don’t know how to pull back. When I was 19 in 2006, having a gaming addiction wasn’t exactly a badge of honor. Fast forward to 2022, though, and it’s commonplace in the community.
What does this mean for you, the gamer that’s trying to accomplish more in life than a killer achievement score? It means you need to prioritize and create a system that will hold you accountable.
Combat Game Addiction by Earning Your Game Time
If you’re like me, you get very into your most-hyped game releases. You might lose track of time completely, realizing it’s 12am and you didn’t accomplish anything for the day. Guilt and shame set in as you go to bed knowing how much you have to catch up on tomorrow. You tell yourself you’ll knock the chores and “adult responsibilities” out the next day…but will you?
When we were kids, our parents made us do our chores and play outside. While the freedom we get when we move out on our own is liberating, it’s very easy to lose restraint and let things that don’t add value take over our time. Like I mentioned in the intro, I was very vulnerable to this and fell prey to the time sink that was World of Warcraft. ~60 hours a week – yikes.
How Can I “Earn” My Game Time?
The way I’ve been able to combat this, and my recommendation to you, is that you gamify your life and earn your game time. Knock out the things you need to before even touching those distractions! And above all, do not start your day off by playing a game. Thanks to many wasted days of my own, I can confidently say that the chances of you accomplishing anything of value are so much lower if you start the day with an unproductive activity.
Instead, start your day off with a challenging activity that adds value! Get that workout in before work, get your reading in on lunch, do your laundry and spend time with your family over dinner and into the evening. Once the important parts of your daily routine are completely finished, knock yourself out and enjoy that game time! You’ve earned it.
What about the issue of having too many options, though? SO many new games are always on the horizon – I mean, even now there are absolute bangers ready to drop! Some of the big AAA releases coming in the last 5 months of 2022 are Xenoblade Chronicles 3, The Last of Us Part I, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Gotham Knights, COD Modern Warfare II, God of War Ragnarok, and Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. All of these sound awesome, but there’s no way I’d have the time to fully enjoy them all. That’s where making some decisions is key.
Set Limits to Curb Your Gaming Addiction
There will always be new and exciting games coming out. If you want to have real balance with your personal, professional, and family life, though, you’ll need to set some limits. And no, I don’t mean limits like “no more than 1 hour of gaming each night”.
I decided at the beginning of 2022 that I was only going to allow myself to buy 2 games for the entire year. TWO GAMES! That seems like so few, right? And that includes major sales, new launch releases – anything. Two game purchases, no more. And you know what? It’s been fantastic.
If you give yourself limits like this, you’ll find that your hype for the two games you choose is just as intense as it was when we were kids. You’ll save a ton of money by buying fewer games, and you’ll also be legitimately productive when the excitement falls away and you find yourself bored again.
On top of that, if you earn your playtime and stick to a reasonable bedtime, these games will last a LONG time. Without the 8 to 12-hour benders that are common to gaming addiction, you’ll appreciate your time to game while extending the experience at the same time. Win-win!
The games I chose to purchase in 2022 are Elden Ring and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. Both have a very high ceiling for the amount of time you can invest (hundreds of hours) and are rich experiences that focus on the minute-to-minute gameplay. Between those and some of my back catalog games (Sekiro, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, and Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition are next!), I’ve easily got my hands full for the entire year. The new titles don’t even cross my radar.
Conclusion
We made it! Let’s summarize how these points have helped me find more balance and appreciation for what I play, and will hopefully help you too.
- Earn the time to play by getting all of your day’s responsibilities out of the way first. This rewards you for your hard work and staying productive.
- Setting a limit on the number of games you can buy forces you to play games in your back catalog. I’ve found absolute gems that I never would have played – where you at, Loop Hero fans!
- Having a balance between gaming, your hobbies, and your responsibilities helps you to appreciate all of them more.
- Dedicating too much time to any one thing is unhealthy. By making sure you have balance, you can handle your daily responsibilities and work toward personal growth without sacrificing your passions and hobbies.
- You can fully enjoy the games you buy without chasing the next “purchase high” and you’ll be more inclined to finish them
- You’ll get this year’s bangers that didn’t make the cut for pennies on the dollar when they’re on sale next year if they’re still on your radar!
Thanks for your blog, nice to read. Do not stop.
Thanks for the comment Mark, glad you enjoyed it!